Immersive and chilling, Traumatika from Pierre Tsigaridis is showing at FrightFest 2024 today so we had a quick chat about this atmospheric movie.
NYX: Have you always been a fan of horror movies?
PT: Absolutely, I love the horror genre and I always have ever since I can remember. As a toddler, I used to hide in closets to look for witches and monsters!
NYX: Where did the idea for Traumatika come from?
PT: Max and I were excited to dive into a new film project shortly after the release of Two Witches. Our goal was to create something feasible with a modest budget. Initially, we envisioned a story about a child who is terrified of his possessed mother, set in a haunted house. We began with a straightforward plot but soon expanded on the concept to delve into the trauma the child would endure. To enhance audience immersion, we decided to tell the story using numerous POV shots.
NYX: You co-wrote it with Maxime Rancon, were you in the same room when writing or was it done virtually?
PT: A little bit of both. When we started to talk about the project we were in the same room. But quickly the writing process would turn into me writing what was discussed and exchanging feedback on the phone.
NYX: It gives a fresh slant on the demonic possession theme, was that your goal from the start?
Thank you. I'm glad to hear it. My films are obviously heavily influenced by a lot of horror classics, whether it’s the tropes of witchcraft in Two Witches or possession in Traumatika, I really tried to make them my own if that makes sense?
NYX: Did you write it with a cast in mind?
PT: Initially we had another actress in mind for the role of Abigail. She was older than Rebekah Kennedy because that was how we had written the character in the script. But we quickly realize that the role involved a few physical challenges, as well as some difficult scenes to shoot like the toe/possession scene you mentioned. I had reached out to Rebekah to see if she knew of any older actress who would be interested in taking the role and as I was talking to her, I realized that she was once again the perfect actress for the role! Rebekah and I trust each other, and we both deeply respect each other’s work so when it came to tackling this difficult role, Rebekah was obviously the smartest choice. And we had a lot of fun bringing her character to life!
NYX: What did they think of some of the more intense scenes (thinking of the toe scene myself!)
PT: Well, Rebekah had mentioned her good friend Sean O’Bryan to play the role of the father. Max and I are so grateful to have him in the movie. He brought a whole new creepy/shocking dimension to his character and he truly exceeded our expectations. The toe scene was difficult to shoot, but it ended up being pretty easy to execute on a performance level because Sean and Rebekah know each other very well, and we all had a good laugh doing it! Obviously the final result is very disturbing…
NYX: Did you have much of a budget to play with?
PT: We had more budget than for Two Witches, but I wouldn’t say we had a lot of budget to play with…
NYX: There are some incredible effects, were they all done on set?
PT: Most of the effects were made practical thanks to our amazing make-up artist Kao Miyamoto. However, we did enhance a few shots with visual effects. The combination of both can really be the sweet spot…
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its world premiere at FrightFest 2024?
PT: I think I will most likely be a little nervous, yeah. As a filmmaker, we all work toward the goal of finally screening the movie in front of an audience and I couldn’t have hoped for a better Premiere than at FrightFest!
NYX: This is your third feature, what lessons in directing did you learn from your first two?
PT: This is actually my second feature! What I learned, I would say, is to always trust the process, however hard and frustrating it may be. If you keep at it, things will eventually take shape.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
PT: I’m developing a bunch of scripts right now so we’ll see what happens!
NYX: Pierre Tsigaridis, thank you very much.
Thank you for your interest in the film!
